This invention relates to a powered system, such as a train, an off-highway vehicle, a marine vessel, a transport vehicle, and/or an agriculture vehicle and, more particularly, to a system and method for pacing a plurality of powered systems traveling along a route.
Some powered systems such as, but not limited to, off-highway and highway vehicles, marine propulsion plants, stationary powered systems, transport vehicles such as transport buses, agricultural vehicles, and rail vehicle systems or trains, are powered by one or more diesel power units, diesel-fueled power generating units, or electric power units drawing energy from overhead or lateral power sources. With respect to rail vehicle systems, a diesel power unit is usually a part of at least one locomotive powered by at least one diesel internal combustion engine and the train further includes a plurality of rail cars, such as freight cars. Usually more than one locomotive is provided, wherein the locomotives are referred to as a locomotive consist. Locomotives are complex systems with numerous subsystems, with each subsystem being interdependent on other subsystems.
Rail vehicles, such as locomotives, for example, are constrained to travel along a railroad track, which is typically divided into a number of block regions to prevent collisions. Each block region may include a signal light without a switch or a switch and a light signal positioned adjacent to the switch. When a locomotive occupies a block region, the light signal in the previous block region will have a red status, and the next upstream region will have a yellow status, requiring the operator of a locomotive in the yellow block region to stop before entering the red region. The light signal in the third previous block region will have a green status, without any necessity to slow or stop the locomotive occupying that block region, and thus a locomotive which maintains a minimum two block region separation from a leading locomotive will achieve an ideal “constant green” signal status. Although an operator of a locomotive will strive to maintain a minimum two block region separation and the “constant green” signal status, since the operator is not typically equipped with necessary speed information about the train ahead, the locomotive will inevitably fluctuate between yellow, red and green status block regions throughout a trip, thereby requiring slowing down and speeding up of the locomotive, resulting in excess fuel usage from the braking and acceleration of the locomotive versus maintaining steady speed.
Thus, it would be advantageous to provide a system which provides the operator (or automatic controller) of the locomotive with the necessary information to maintain a minimum two block region separation from the leading locomotive, so to maintain the “constant green” signal status, and thereby maximize the efficient operation of the locomotive. With multiple trains traversing a given territory or a region within the territory, it would be advantageous to provide for coordination among all of the trains, to assist in the smooth and efficient flow of trains with a minimum of accelerations and slowdowns along the route.